Just two months after giving itself a $3,800 raise, Congress began considering tacking on an additional $165 per day, tax-free, but staff said yesterday the issue is now dead due to political pressure.
Currently, members of Congress are paid $145,100 annually, for which they are required to pay taxes. Given that there are about 151 legislative working days in Congress, the per diem amount recently considered would have amounted to an annual $25,000 tax-free raise.
“If they pile a tax-free $25,000 raise on top of their lavish salaries, they will be raking in the equivalent of a $190,000 taxable salary, not including their lucrative pensions, a $3,000 tax exemption for a second home, and other benefits,” said Steve Dasbach, president of the Libertarian Party. “And if this raise goes through, congressional salaries will have risen an astronomical $80,600 over the last decade, meaning their raises alone will dwarf the median American family’s income. It’s time to stand up and say: ‘Enough is enough!'”
The Committee on House Administration, chaired by Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, has the authority to approve –- or reject -– a per diem proposal. Tasked with overseeing the payroll and bookkeeping duties for the House, the 9-member committee made of 6 Republicans and 3 Democrats must first receive such a proposal before it may act on it, said committee spokesman Jim Forbes. The per diem proposal in question was informally discussed by a bipartisan group of representatives, but “nothing formal was ever drawn up,” and the proposal never reached the committee, Forbes explained.
“It’s not a good thing politically because people don’t understand it,” the spokesman said.
Forbes noted the acceptance of per diem by congressional representatives is voluntary -– individuals do not have to take the money. He also said the additional funds do not result in a tax increase, as the money is taken from an in-house account. While the proposal may be resurrected by the speaker of the House, Forbes said, “I can pretty much assure you that it’s a dead issue.”
Nevertheless, many Americans believe Congress needs a wake-up call for even entertaining the notion of a per diem.
“This episode demonstrates that the one word that should strike fear into the hearts of every American is ‘bipartisan.’ After all, there’s nothing more dangerous, or expensive, than Democrats and Republicans working in harmony to funnel your money into their pockets,” said Dasbach, who calls the per diem proposal hypocritical.
“A $25,000 raise isn’t enough for these money-grubbing politicians; they want a $25,000 tax-free raise!” he remarked. “It’s obvious that House politicians have a love-hate relationship with the income tax: They love it when you pay yours, but hate having to pay theirs. You know the government is corrupt when an activity that can make politicians rich — in this case, income tax evasion — can get ordinary Americans thrown in jail.”
